Zea Maise: From the Plant and Flower Alphabet
GRANITE BAY DESIGN PLANT & FLOWER ALPHABET
Some strains of corn (taxonomized as Zea maise) are cultivated specifically as popping corns. The Zea maise variety everta, a special kind of flint corn, is the most common of these. Popcorn is one of six major types of corn, which includes dent corn, flint corn, pod corn, flour corn, and sweet corn.
Through the 19th century, popping of the kernels was achieved by hand, on stove tops. Kernels were sold on the East Coast of the United States under names such as Pearls or Nonpareil. The term popped corn first appeared in John Russell Bartlett’s 1848 Dictionary of Americanisms. Popcorn is an ingredient in Cracker Jack and, in the early years of the product, it was popped by hand.
Engravings from “Handbook of Plant and Floral Ornament from Early Herbals” by Richard G. Hatton (Originally published in 1909).
Plant descriptions primarily from Wikipedia.
